In the field of bottling lines for filling containers of thermoplastic material, several solutions are known, for example, from the following patent documents: WO2009/127962 (in the name of the same Applicant as this invention) and US2011219728A1.
These bottling lines comprise: a moulding unit for making parisons from thermoplastic material in its raw form; a blow-moulding unit for making the containers by blow-moulding the parisons; a unit for filling the containers; a structure for thermally conditioning the parisons.
More specifically, the line described in WO2009/127962 comprises an oven for heating the parisons and a module for cooling the parisons. It also comprises a storage system configured to contain the parisons and connected to the thermal conditioning structure to receive and feed parisons from and to the thermal conditioning structure.
The line described in WO2009/127962, however, has the disadvantage of not achieving a high level of hygiene for the parisons and, more in general, for all the plastic objects processed in the line: namely, parisons, containers and caps.
In effect, the line is not provided with any systems for maintaining a high level of hygiene for the products processed in the line itself.
The line described in US2011219728A1, on the other hand, comprises a sterilizing unit for the parisons fed into the blow-moulding unit. Furthermore, the filler, capper and cap maker are installed in a cleanroom.
This line, therefore, is in effect provided with a system for maintaining a certain level of hygiene for the products processed but has the disadvantage of being rather inconvenient to manage and not very reliable since the room to be kept clean is very large and subject to contamination.
Further, the sterilizing unit of the line is difficult to manage and inefficient because, although the filler is in step with the parison production unit, the working requirements and work loads of these units may differ considerably over time (for example in the space of a week or a month).